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Space Exploration Technologies puts a bird into orbit with a full sized capsule capable of carrying six astronauts. It was flawless:

SpaceX now has an operational system capable of putting payload and, in the next year or two, people, into low earth orbit all the way to the Space Station that costs much less than the shuttle or Russian boosters.

Last year I asked SpaceX CEO Elon Musk what kind of savings we could soon see. Musk said, “A seat on the Dragon Spacecraft launched by the Falcon 9 rocket would cost less than million, and it is 100% manufactured and launched in the United States. This means over a 1000 new high quality jobs while saving taxpayers billion a year.” Asked about more ambitious journeys, Musk added, “After we master delivering payload and passengers to the ISS, we certainly have other destinations in mind …”

Take a look at the map on the bottom, and allow your gaze to settle on the United States east coast. Look closely at Washington, DC. If you try — squint if you have to — you can see Congress there, rearranging deck chairs.

[Republicans are] not great about funding science when they’re in power, it’s true, but again, that’s more because they don’t like to fund anything except corporate welfare and the military; it’s not specifically an anti-science thing.

Disagree, it’s an anti-science thing. They’re against science the same way they’re against the ACLU or unions: anything that might challenge conservative orthodoxy is on the shit list.